Four days in Bangkok

The start of another bicycle trip. We had tickets from İstanbul (IST) to Bangkok via New Delhi on indigo. This turned out to be my fourth winter in row in the tropics (after Sri Lanka, Raja Ampat, and the Philippines). At some point I’ll have to get used to cold weather again… I guess, maybe (?).

IMG_20250126_204514 by bryandkeith on flickr

But first, how to get to IST? The bus from Antalya (via Esenler) was, of course, an option, but airfares were reasonable to SAW (Sahiba Gökçen) so we flew to SAW and took the bus from there. All this meant that we had time in IST to visit the airport archaeology museum. It also meant that it ended up being a 31-hour trip from our house in Antalya to a hotel in Bangkok.

Our guide in Luxor had talked about the world’s first peace treaty between the Hittites and the (Egyptian) New Kingdom after the battle of Kadesh. The İstanbul airport archaeology museum is not big, but here’s the Kadesh Treaty:

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Perge, Termessos, Gökkaya Tepesi: Philip visits Antalya

We took advantage of my cousin’s son’s short stay to get out for some nice day trips near Antalya. Philip visited for about a week in January before a stint of studying in Barcelona. I was excited to show him Perge — I had heard a year (or two or three) ago that the theater was now open for tourists. Doh! I should have gone as soon as I read the announcement. It’s closed again and sounds like it won’t be open for years. They need to do some stabilization work.

As before this is about the best view of the theater.

IMG_20250108_132838 by bryandkeith on flickr

In more positive news they’ve moved the parking lot and entrance out of the center of the site. Now the stadium feels more like it’s actually within the archaeological area.

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Five days in Islamic Cairo

The Abbasids, Fatimids, Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans; mashrabiya and Mamluk minbars; mosques, madrasas, sabil, kuttab, khanqah, wekalat, and many mausoleums. There is a ton to see in Islamic Cairo.

The density of monuments on a 5km north-south stretch from the Citadel to Bab Al-Fotuh is phenomenal. I spent three days walking that section, one day to visit the northern cemetery (and Baron Empain Palace in Heliopolis), and another day south and west (mostly Ibn Tulun Mosque and Rhoda Island). My biggest regret is not making time for the Islamic Art Museum, but there’s also the southern cemetery, and, well, I have whole list (of just Islamic Cairo) that would probably take another five days.

I stayed in Abdin, not far from the eponymous palace and the Mohamed Naguib Metro Station. The hotel had no heat and poor insulation, but two thick warm comfortable comforters kept me cozy at night. From my balcony I could see the dome and minarets of Mohammed Ali Mosque at the Citadel.

20241221_165150 by bryandkeith on flickr

I had breakfast around the corner every morning from a smiling, welcoming group of young guys.

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Upper Egypt: Edfu, Kom Ombo, Abu Simbel, Philae, Aswan

The first leg of our journey from Luxor to Cairo was a cruise on the Nile. Ours was two days and two nights from Luxor to Aswan via Edfu and Kom Ombo. At least three friends had taken similar cruises, and all raved about it. I won’t rave about it. If you’re on the fence about a Nile cruise, skip it.

The highlight is sitting on the top of the boat lazily watching verdant river banks. You realize that Egypt is the Nile. Beyond the strip of irrigated agriculture along the river, it’s all desert.

20241214_104541 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Four days in Luxor

Ancient Egypt, finally! Why’d it take three trips to Egypt to make it to Luxor? And why stay only four days? You can probably see Luxor’s highlights in about eight days (six on the west bank, two on the east side?). Four days gave us a little taste of Egyptology.

Before coming to Luxor, visiting Upper Egypt seemed rather confusing — where to stay, how to get around, how spread out is everything, how do the tickets work. And then there are touts and scams and outright lying. The difficulties start with simply getting from the touristy Red Sea to touristy Luxor, something I’d expect to be easy.

In the end I guess it was easy — we didn’t leave our hotel at Utopia Beach Club until after 11am and arrived in Luxor the same day. The hardest part was convincing the tour desk at the hotel to call a cab for us. Arrange this ahead of time if you can. The taxi dropped us at the minibus station in Al-Qusair where we caught a Hurghada-bound shared taxi station wagon to Safaga and from there a gobus to Luxor. The road heading west from Al-Qusair straight to the Nile does not appear to have many transportation options. This might be why people repeatedly warned there were no buses to Luxor and we’d need to pay for a private transfer. This wasn’t the only time in Egypt that long distance transportation was easier and cheaper than we’d been told.

IMG_20241208_161414 by bryandkeith on flickr

Touts in Luxor are notorious, but the scams and hassles seem to be confined to small areas where there are lots of tourists. As in Sri Lanka and Turkey and Syria (and many other places), visiting museums and archaeology sites can be surprisingly expensive for foreigners. Over 10% of our total trip cost (which included flights and a week at an all inclusive resort on the Red Sea) was spent on entrance fees (and we didn’t even visit the two most expensive tombs: Nefertari was closed, and we didn’t have time for Seti I). Ignoring the prices (close your eyes and pay) seems like a good strategy.

We stayed on the west bank and rented bicycles from Mahmoud for our three days of touring on the west bank. It’s easy to get around by bicycle though we were a bit surprised how long it took to get to Valley of the Kings, our first excursion. It’s slightly uphill most of the way which we didn’t notice till the end of the day when we coasted much of the way back to town.

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